


the hunter and the canary

by Nerdygirlygirl



Series: The Hunter and The Canary [1]
Category: Arrow (TV 2012), Supernatural
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-03-24
Updated: 2016-03-24
Packaged: 2018-05-28 15:40:39
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 10,708
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6334714
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nerdygirlygirl/pseuds/Nerdygirlygirl
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Laurel Lance has had a rough few years and has had a hard time moving on from her past until she meets a flirty FBI agent with a fake badge.</p>
            </blockquote>





	the hunter and the canary

**Author's Note:**

> basically ignoring canon right here b/c honestly, i haven't seen supernatural since this season's premiere (i'll catch up on netflix like i do every year) and i haven't watched like the last 5 or so episodes of arrow so i'm just making up what i want and living in my own happy world - you can always join me.
> 
> this is honestly my first time writing in the arrow or supernatural universe, but i found [this](http://laurelwinchester.tumblr.com/post/139636319983/fic-you-have-unread-messages-dean) amazing masterpiece on tumblr and have been obsessed with this pairing for awhile now and couldn't get the thought "how would they meet?" out of my head - so 10k words later and here we are.

“So why aren’t we calling Oliver’s occult guy?” Diggle leans forward on Felicity’s desk in the meeting room.

“John Constantine? I tried already. He didn’t answer,” Oliver crosses his arms as he watches Felicity typing away.

“Is there another way to contact him?”

Oliver raises one eyebrow and glances at Digg, “I tried all the ways I know. This is our fastest solution.”

“So these Ghostfacers, are our best bet?” Laurel steps between the two and glances over Felicity’s shoulder raising her eyebrows at their attempt at graphic designs on their website.

“Well, they probably know _something_?” Felicity suggests.

“Who knows what?” Thea comes bouncing in from the elevator.

“We’re trying to figure out this ghost problem?” Digg answers without looking away from the computer.

“The Ghosts are back?” Thea joins everyone at Felicity’s computer.

“No, like an actual ghost – a dead person,” Oliver supplies.

“Okay, I got the Ghostfacers to agree to a face to face chat – except it’s on video chat,” Felicity leans back to look at Oliver. “You all might want to hide.”

Oliver nods and everyone steps back out of the view of Felicity’s camera.

 _“Hello?”_ A male voice comes through the speakers and Laurel sighs as she wanders out of earshot and towards the training area.

“Hey,” Thea whispers quietly – because sound could travel in their little cave.

“What’s up?” Laurel turns with her arms crossed and smiles at the younger girl.

“Not much,” Thea pauses as she crosses her own arms and glances back at where Oliver and Digg were listening intently to Felicity’s conversation. “Do you think we could get out of here early? I mean – is this ghost even real?”

“I don’t know, Thea. I wasn’t there. Just Oliver and Felicity,” Laurel shrugs.

“When Oliver texted me that a ghost attacked Felicity at Palmer Tech, I honestly thought it was, you know, a Ghost.”

“Me too,” Laurel sighs and glances back at the other side of the room. “Why big plans tonight?” Laurel gives Thea a big grin.

“Yes, actually,” Thea returns it with a sly one of her own. “I’ve got a date tonight – that I would really like to not cancel on – again.”

“I don’t miss that,” Laurel tilts her head towards Thea.

“Really?”

“Well,” Laurel sighs. “I don’t know. I mean – I miss the excitement of someone new, but it’s so hard balancing everything. Between actual work and this – I really don’t have time for a social life.”

“I think you just need to meet the right guy,” Thea grins at her. “I can help.”

Laurel laughs, “Thanks. I appreciate it, but I’m good still. Every time I think of dating – I think of Tommy still. I should probably wait until that stops happening.”

“Maybe you’ll meet a guy who doesn’t remind you of Tommy at all and then you’ll be able to jump back in.”

“Maybe,” Laurel smiles before pulling Thea into a one arm hug around the younger girl’s shoulders. “Thanks.”

“Anytime. Its what friends are for.”

Laurel smiles and glances over to the other side of the room to see Felicity’s forehead scrunched in confusion and her eyes darting over to Oliver too often to be good. Laurel nods her head in their direction and Thea turns and begins walking towards them with Laurel behind her.

_“We’re retired, Ms. Smoak. I’m very sorry, but we cannot come out for a consultation. However, we can give you the names of some people we trained. I believe they are still on the road working.”_

“What do you mean on the road working?” Felicity asks.

_“They call themselves hunters. They hunt things – it’s the family business, apparently.”_

“Okay, well how do we get in touch with them?”

_“We can send you the last number we have of theirs. They tend to keep them around.”_

“Okay, well thank you for your help,” Felicity smiles tightly before clicking off and turns to the rest. “That was completely unhelpful.”

Oliver nods and Digg crosses his arms while shuffling his feet before glancing at Oliver and Laurel and the rest followed suit.

“I guess, we wait until we hear from these Ghostfacers and contact their co-workers?” Oliver raises his head confused. “Is that what we should call them?”

Felicity shrugs and Laurel glances to Thea – who looks bored.

“Alright, well,” Oliver sighs and uncrosses his arms. “I guess that’s it for the night. Sorry to have called you guys out here for nothing.”

“Great,” Thea grins at Laurel before patting Oliver on the shoulder as a goodbye and heads towards the elevator.

“Where’s she going?” Oliver turns to Laurel.

“Big date,” Laurel grins.

“That’s right,” Felicity stands from her seat and smiles at Oliver. “It’s Friday – normal people’s date night.”

“Oh really?” Oliver smiles at his fiancé. “And what do normal people do on date nights?”

“Hm,” Felicity hums as she pretends to think. “Dinner, movies, dancing, you know – all of it. Although, maybe not dancing – two left feet and all.” Felicity offers a self-deprecating chuckle.

“Sounds like a date,” Oliver smiles as Felicity begins to grab her things.

“I should probably head home too,” Diggle nods his head. “Maybe Lyla and I can find a last minute babysitter – or just hang out and have a date night in.”

Oliver smiles and claps Digg on the shoulder, “That sounds perfect too.”

“What about you, Laurel?” Digg turns to her.

Laurel glances up from the floor, “Oh, maybe I’ll see if my dad wants to grab something.”

“Oh,” Felicity finishes throwing her stuff in her bags. “I think my mom mentioned something about them going out to dinner tonight, but I might be wrong.”

“No,” Laurel shakes her head. “Now that I think about it, I remember him mentioning something when I saw him this morning.”

“You saw him this morning?” Oliver asks confused.

“At the courthouse, he was testifying in a case and I was there on another case.”

“Well, you’re welcome to join me and Lyla for dinner,” Diggle offers.

“Or us,” Felicity smiles sweetly.

“Thanks, guys,” Laurel laughs humorlessly. “I’ll probably stay down here and hit the bag since we’re not going out.”

“Well, don’t stay down here too long. We don’t get a lot of nights off,” Oliver smiles before reaching out and squeezing Laurel’s bicep before passing her to meet Felicity by the elevator with Diggle following.

“I won’t,” Laurel offers a grin. “Have fun, guys.”

“Night,” Felicity calls out as the elevator doors close.

“Well,” Laurel turns to the training area and smiles to herself. She actually enjoys spending some time alone down here sometimes. She likes turning her music up loud and losing herself in a good workout and she hasn’t had one in a long time.

 

&&&

 

“ADA Lance,” Laurel answers as she picks up her office phone. _Monday mornings at the office – or afternoons, apparently_ , Laurel thinks to herself, glancing at the clock and realizing it was after one in the afternoon.

“Oh, thank god, I got you,” Felicity says rushed and in a whisper. “I’m at work and these two FBI agents just showed up asking all these questions about Friday. Do you think you could swing by and help?” Felicity’s voice squeaks slightly. She was still nervous around law enforcement from her hacktivist days (with the one exception being Quentin Lance – Laurel’s father and her mother’s boyfriend).

“Yeah, sure. I should probably get out of this office before I drown. I’ll be there in ten.”

“Oh, thank you, Laurel.”

“Oliver and Digg still out of town?” Laurel remembers the text Oliver sent Thea Saturday morning about a lead on another vigilante case.

“Yeah, they got some extra leads and decided to extend the ‘conference’ and you’re a lawyer. I figured it was safer calling you." 

“Good point. I should probably find out why the FBI is in town anyway and give my dad a heads up.”

“Yeah, that’s good. See you soon,” Felicity quickly disconnects the call and Laurel grabs her files and throws them in her bag before heading out.

It took Laurel fifteen minutes to get to Palmer Tech during the lunch rush hour, but once she was through the doors, the security guards waved her up. Laurel, Felicity, and Thea started having lunch together a few weeks back when things settled down for a bit. Now they tried to do it at least once a week, but mostly every other week. Between Thea working for Oliver down at city hall, Felicity working as a CEO for a major company, and Laurel the most senior ADA, the three of them were pretty busy.

“Hey, Felicity. Sorry I’m late,” Laurel announces as she pushes the door to Felicity’s office open.

Standing in the middle of the room talking to Felicity are two (very attractive) men in suits and overcoats. The younger one with long hair has a small note pad out and a pen poised over it taking notes. The older one with a shorter hair cut and some scruff on his face has his hands in his pockets.

“Oh, I’m sorry. Am I interrupting?” Laurel asks sweetly. “Or did you forget about lunch again, Felicity?” Laurel hopes Felicity picks up on her lie.

“Oh, right. Yes. I did forget, Laurel. I’m so sorry,” Felicity turns to the two men. “Is there anything else you need from me, officers?”

“Agents,” the longer haired one responds. “And no. I think we got everything.”

“I’m sorry, agents?” Laurel steps up to Felicity’s side. “Who are you?”

The older one seems to roll his eyes while they both grab their badges.

“Agents Shaw and DeYoung,” the older one – Shaw – says in a deep voice. “FBI.”

“Oh, the FBI,” Laurel turns to Felicity with wide eyes. Felicity’s own eyes widen in slight confusion before nodding along to Laurel’s plan.

“Remember the weird thing that happened on Friday,” Felicity offers. “They just had a few questions. Apparently it’s been happening frequently.”

“Yes,” Agent DeYoung nods. “Ms. Smoak here is the only one to have survived an attack.”

“Well, then we should be so lucky that you’re all here to help,” Laurel smiles sweetly again. “May I see your badge again, agents? I’ve never seen a FBI badge before.”

“Of course,” Agent Shaw gives Laurel a flirtatious smile as he flashes her the badge again and Laurel mentally pats herself on the back for playing the ditzy girl.

“Thank you, Agent Shaw,” Laurel returns his flirty smile with one of her own. “If you need any help, I’m sure Felicity and I will be glad to help.”

“And how do you two know each other?” Agent DeYoung asks.

“Old friends,” Laurel smiles. “It’s a long story, right, Felicity?”

“Right,” Felicity nods along and smiles at the two agents.

“Well, we will be in town for a few days,” Agent Shaw turns to Laurel. “I’m sure you could tell that story over dinner?”

Laurel glances at Felicity before turning to Agent Shaw, “I’m sure I could. Do you have a business card?”

Agent Shaw and DeYoung exchange a look before DeYoung scribbles down a number on his notepad and hands it to Laurel.

“Look forward to hearing from you,” Agent Shaw gives Laurel a little salute before turning and leaving the office with DeYoung behind him.

“They’re badges are fake,” Laurel says once the two men have left still wearing her smile since Felicity’s office is completely glass.

“What?” Felicity’s jaw drops and Laurel takes two steps and quickly spins them so Felicity’s back is to the door.

“My dad made sure I knew the difference between real and fake badges. It’s come in handy a few times,” Laurel tries not to remember the man who tried to kill Taylor Moore after killing the young boys’ parents.

“Right,” Felicity sighs. “I guess we need to call a team meeting – bring Oliver and the rest of them in.”

“Oliver and Digg are still out of town, aren’t they?” Laurel asks.

“Right,” Felicity takes a deep breath. “He’s going to hate this.”

Laurel nods before a thought crosses her mind.

“Felicity,” Laurel pauses until she has Felicity’s attention and holds up the scrap of paper. “Why don’t we do some digging of our own before we call Oliver and Diggle?”

Felicity looks a little apprehensive, “I’m not sure how I feel about that. What if something goes wrong?”

“It’s a date,” Laurel smiles reassuringly at Felicity. “I would have you and Thea as back up and to be honest, did you see how they moved? I don’t think they’re fighters. They rely on their guns. They might be able to pack some punches, but we’ve taken harder hits before.”

Felicity raises an eyebrow at Laurel while she thinks over Laurel’s idea, “Fine. But only if Thea agrees. You two are the ones in the field. I’ll look into the actual agents see if they’re listed anywhere.”

“I’ll call Thea and loop her in,” Laurel nods as she turns and heads towards the door.

“And you should call Agent Shaw and set up that date,” Felicity calls after her. Laurel turns around and gives Felicity a grin before heading out.

 

&&&

 

“I’m so excited,” Thea bounces up onto her toes and plops back down. “Just the girls heading out onto the town.”

“Thea, you know the plan, right?” Laurel asks again.

“Of course, double date.”

Laurel smiles at Thea’s enthusiasm, “Thea, you’ll be outside geared up.”

“I know, but I’m so excited you’re going on a date.”

“You know it’s a set up, right?” Felicity asks. “Like she’s not really going on a date.”

“Hey,” Thea turns to Felicity. “A fake date is the right step to real dates.” Thea steps closer to Felicity. “Laurel hasn’t gone on a date since Tommy. We are really, really proud of her, remember?”

Felicity turns around in her chair, “Of course, we are. We’re incredibly happy for her fake date.”

Laurel grins and shakes her head at the two of them. If you had asked Laurel a few years ago that two of her closest friends would be the fiancé and younger sister of her cheating ex-boyfriend who she thought was dead she would probably have laughed and now the only thing that would make it better would be to have Sara here too, but she’s off saving time or something.

 

&&&

 

Laurel was surprised when Agent Shaw had agreed to one of the nicest restaurants in town. She figured if he was some sort of a con artist, he would have protested her suggestion of a four-star restaurant. Thankfully, the owner and head chef was a former client of hers from CNRI so she was able to get a good table with a good vantage point for Thea.

“Agent Shaw,” Laurel walks up to the table where the hostess directed her.

Agent Shaw stood the moment he saw her, “Please, call me Dean. And you look lovely, Laurel.”

“Thank you, Dean,” Laurel says slowly, testing the new name on her tongue (and kind of liking it). She gives him a sly grin knowing she looks good. It’s her favorite date night dress and it’s been hiding in the back of her closet for years. The perfect black dress and it looks even better now with all her new vigilante muscles. “You don’t look too bad yourself,” Laurel says, but honestly, he looks like shit – like he hasn’t slept in days and she’s pretty sure he’s wearing the same suit he wore yesterday when she saw him.

“Thanks. Um – let’s have a seat,” Dean gestures to the table and Laurel smiles and allows him to pull her chair out and sit across from her. “I’m gonna be honest – I haven’t done this in awhile.”

“Done what?” Laurel asks innocently.

“Date. I mean – I don’t think I’ve honestly ever had a first date.”

“Really?” Laurel grins and leans forward. “You seem like quite the ladies man to me. I find it hard to believe that you haven’t ever been on a first date.”

“Well, my last serious relationship – it didn’t go so well. My, um, job got in the way.”

“I know what you mean,” Laurel finds herself saying catching both her and Dean by surprise.

“I’m sorry. I never caught what it is you do,” Dean leans in eager for the information and Laurel gets caught between wanting to tell him and not wanting him to know that she’s on the same side as the FBI because it might scare him off before she finds out why he’s faking the badge.

“Um, I work for the city,” Laurel takes a sip of her water just as the waitress comes up to take their drinks.

“What can I get you both?”

Dean turns to Laurel first.

“Um, I’m good with just the water. Thank you.”

Dean glances at her before turning to the waitress, “Water’s good for me too. Thanks.”

Dean reaches for his water glass at the same time Laurel does and they both take a small sip.

“So how’s the investigation going?” Laurel decides to jump right to the point.

“Oh, um, good. It’s something we’ve seen before so it should be an open and shut case once we nail down some details.”

“Oh, that’s good. I’m sure Felicity would be really happy to have this all solved,” Laurel took another sip of her water. “What exactly happened anyway? I never got the full story from her or her fiancé.”

“Her fiancé?” Dean glances up from the menu.

The waitress returns and both order a steak with a salad and Laurel waits to see if Dean continues the conversation.

“You mentioned Felicity’s fiancé? I wasn’t aware she was engaged – or that anyone was with her when she was attacked.”

“It’s kind of hard to miss that rock on her finger,” Laurel chuckles good-naturedly. “She’s engaged to the Mayor – Oliver Queen. He’s out of town for a conference. He got called away Saturday morning.”

“A conference on the weekend?” Dean cocks his head to one side.

“I believe they headed out early to get a head start. I’m not entirely sure,” Laurel clears her throat and glances around the restaurant. She’s always been able to lie to law enforcement whenever she needed to – benefits of being raised by a cop, but something about this particular FBI agent is causing her problems. Laurel is saved from further explaining why Oliver left town one day after Felicity was attacked by Dean’s phone ringing.

“Um, I’m sorry. It’s my – partner. I should take this,” Dean holds the ringing phone in one hand.

“Absolutely, please,” Laurel waves her hand. As soon as Dean has left the table, her own phone starts to ring. “You have some creepy timing, Felicity.”

 _“Thea, too,”_ Thea’s voice comes over the speaker.

 _“Bluetooth comms,”_ Felicity explains. _“Thea is watching and reporting back. She says you look nervous. I never thought I’d see the day of a nervous Laurel.”_

“Well, it’s been awhile and he keeps asking questions that are a little to fishy.”

 _“Oh, yeah, asking how you know Felicity since you met him in her office, is really fishy,”_ Thea counters.

“More like why Oliver left his fiancé the day after she was attacked. It’s really hard to explain that’s she part of a complex group of vigilantes and is being protected by two of them.”

_“Oh, that’s easy. Oliver and Digg have hired private security for me. Lyla’s been following me around work and stuff.”_

“Really? She wasn’t there yesterday.”

_“Bathroom break, Laurel.”_

“Right, look I gotta go. He’s coming back.” Laurel quickly ended the call and shoved her phone in her purse.

“Sorry about that,” Dean gave her an apologetic smile as he sat down across from her. “My partner was just running some information by me.”

“Oh, do you need to go or anything?” Laurel asks sweetly, hoping he has to cancel the rest of the date.

“No, he’s got everything handled.”

“Good,” Laurel gives him a small smile.

“Laurel?”

 _Oh thank god,_ Laurel thinks before turning around and groaning when she sees who it is.

“Hi,” Laurel squeaks coming face to face with her dad and Donna Smoak.

“Hi, baby. How are you?” Quentin Lance leans down to kiss Laurel’s cheek and Laurel gives Donna a warm smile.

“Good. What are you guys doing here?”

“Just getting dinner,” Donna smiles before taking Quentin’s hand and wrapping her other hand around his bicep. “We’re celebrating.”

“Oh?” Laurel smiles and glances between the two. “What exactly?”

“It’s our one-year anniversary!” Donna says excitedly.

“Congratulations,” Laurel smiles and stands to hug them both.

“Congrats,” Dean says gruffly and everyone turns to face them.

“And you are?” Quentin asks.

“Dean – Shaw,” Dean stands and offers his hand to shake.

“Captain Quentin Lance, SCPD.”

“Quentin,” Donna says with a warning in her voice. “Hi, I’m Donna Smoak?”

“Smoak?” Dean turns to Laurel. “As in Felicity Smoak?”

“That’s my baby girl. Do you know her?”

“Um, yes. Unfortunately.”

Quentin and Donna glance at each other with puzzled looks before turning to Laurel.

“Agent Shaw is investigating the attack at Palmer Tech on Friday,” Laurel explains and Donna visibly relaxes.

“Oh, thank god, you’re looking into that. I know Oliver said he was handling it and Quentin said he would look into it too, but it’s nice to know even more people are _on the case_ ,” Donna says with a smile.

“And how do you two know each other?” Quentin points between Laurel and Dean.

“We actually met when Laurel was having lunch with Felicity yesterday,” Dean offers with a smile and Laurel inwardly cringes.

“Oh, really?” Quentin turns to his daughter. “And this wasn’t something you could have mentioned at dinner last night?”

“Quentin,” Donna admonishes. “A girl is allowed to have her secrets. God knows Felicity has her’s,” Donna laughs.

Laurel exchanges a look with her dad. They both remember the secrets they had to keep from each other over the years and it has never been fun.

“And how do you two know each other?” Dean questions Laurel and Quentin.

Laurel winces before turning it into a grin and turns to face Dean, “Dean, this is my dad, Quentin Lance.”

“Oh,” Dean immediately pales. “It’s nice to meet you, um, sir.”

“Why don’t we join you?” Quentin looks around for a waiter to help set the table for four.

Laurel grimaces, “Dad, I’m sure you and Donna want to enjoy a nice evening alone – just the two of you.” 

“Come on, Quentin. Leave the two of them alone on their date. They looked like they were having a lovely evening before you so rudely interrupted,” Donna pokes his arm and mouths a _sorry_ to Laurel before dragging Quentin away to their waiting table.

“I am so sorry about that,” Laurel immediately apologizes.

Dean chuckles, “It’s okay. But it does explain how you and Felicity know each other.”

Laurel grimaces and decides to just go all in, “Actually that’s not how we met.” Laurel takes her seat again and Dean follows her lead. “Felicity and I actually met through her fiancé.”

“Oh?” Dean looks confused.

“Oliver and I grew up together and we dated for a few years before he went missing and then he came back and I started dating Tommy – his best friend.”

“Oh, well, that doesn’t seem exactly nice to him. What do you mean he went missing?”

“He was stranded on an island in the North Sea for five years.”

Dean’s jaw slackens.

“I’m surprised you don’t know anything about this. It was all over the news about four years ago?”

“I’ve been a little out of the loop lately,” Dean clears his throat. “Just out of curiosity. You and Oliver were dating and then he goes missing –“

“Presumed dead,” Laurel interrupts with a nod.

“And you start dating his best friend when he gets back.”

“Actually, we started dating before he came back. We just made it more official when he did.”

“That doesn’t seem very fair to him?”

“He cheated on me a couple times before disappearing on a yacht. And one of the girls happened to be my sister – who was missing for six years before returning to us.”

“Wow,” Dean leans back in his seat and his jaw clenches and his brow furrows.

The waitress appears at that moment and places their meals in front of them with a happy _enjoy your meal_ before leaving again.

“But that’s all in the past now. Oliver is a good friend and Sara is off having adventures and Felicity and I became friends long before her and Oliver even got together.”

Dean nods, “So that’s the long story?”

“Kind of. The rest of it was Tommy – Oliver’s best friend – died during an earthquake about three years ago. He had come to my office and got me out, but couldn’t get himself out in time and died when the building collapsed.”

“I’m sorry,” Dean says sympathetically and leans forward to place his hand over Laurel’s. “That must have been hard on all of you.”

“It was, but we’ve learned ways to honor his sacrifice.”

“How so?”

“Oh, um, we do a lot of volunteer work in the Glades and such,” Laurel nods before beginning to eat her meal. “What about you? You said your last serious relationship didn’t end well?”

Dean shifts in his seat and busies himself with cutting into his meat, “Yeah, um, Lisa. She had a kid – Ben – and I travel a lot for my job so it’s was hard being gone all the time and things just ended.”

“I’m sorry,” Laurel notices the way Dean’s voice took on a sad tone when he spoke about his girlfriend’s kid. “Were you close to Ben?”

“Yeah, he was a great kid. We would spend weekends working on old cars and stuff – when I was around,” Dean nodded and a small smile crossed his face.

“You want kids?” Laurel finds herself asking without thinking.

“Yeah, I always have, but I never thought my life would allow that sort of thing. Ben showed me I could,” Dean offers a smile. “What about you?”

“Oh, um, I haven’t really thought about kids in awhile, but I always loved them and I always wanted the house with the white picket fence and two-point-five kids,” Laurel gives a wry smile.

“Why haven’t you thought about them in awhile?”

“I’ve just been dealing with a lot of other things lately.”

“I know that feeling,” Dean shrugs.

They spend the next few minutes eating in silence as Laurel simultaneously mentally kicks herself for giving so much of herself away and mentally gives herself a pat on the back that she made it through _that awkward_ conversation and survived. When she starts dating again, it might get easier – discussing her history.

Dean’s phone begins to ring again and he glances down to it frowning, “I’m sorry. I have to go. It’s work and it’s a lead we’ve been waiting on.”

“Yeah, go, it’s fine,” Laurel smiles sadly.

Dean quickly stands up and begins pulling cash out of his wallet to leave on the table, he begins to pass her, but stops. “I had a really good time tonight. I hope we can do it again before I leave,” Dean drops a hand onto the her shoulder and squeezes gently before quickly moving past her and out the door leaving Laurel stunned – how could that possibly have gone good.

Laurel can feel her phone buzzing in her purse so she checks to make sure Dean has left enough money and a good tip before picking up her bag and pulling her phone out.

“On my way back to you,” Laurel says quickly before disconnecting again.

 

&&&

 

“So that went well,” Felicity smiles brightly at Laurel as she gets off the elevator. “Except the whole parental thing. That was not so good. But the overall night was good.”

“I agree,” Thea spins in one of the extra chairs. “And his job is less than both of yours and he still had to walk out on the date.”

Laurel glares at them both, “The whole date was a part of my job. Trying to figure out what he knows and I got nothing except that its happened before and there just trying to sort out the details. That’s not exactly helpful to us.”

“Laurel,” Felicity says cautiously. “Did you really think this was some top secret date?”

“Yes.”

“Well, it was never going to be. He’s a FBI agent. He’s not going to be giving up details on his case.”

“Yeah,” Thea stops spinning her chair. “We thought you were just using that as an excuse to go on a date with this guy. You guys seemed to really get along.”

“If that was the case, I wouldn’t have asked Thea to come as back up or have you both listening in.” Laurel crosses her arms over her chest.

“We thought it was a part of the whole I need to pretend this is a secret fact finding mission in order to get over the whole my-ex-boyfriend-died-tragically-while-trying-to-save-me thing,” Felicity’s brow furrows. “Sorry.”

“You wore your date night dress too, Laurel,” Thea adds pointing to the garment in question. “If this was a business thing, you would have just worn one of your work dresses. This one screams _look at me_ and the others say _take me seriously_.”

Laurel sighs and drops into the only other chair by the computers, “I guess you guys are right.” Laurel pauses before continuing, “It’s just been so hard with everything. And I haven’t been ready to date. At least, I thought I wasn’t ready, but tonight – the actual date portions and not the find out what the fake FBI agent knows – was easy. Too easy.”

“Then,” Felicity slides her chair closer and takes Laurel’s hand in hers. “Maybe it’s time to get back out there.”

“Tommy loved you, Laurel. He would not have wanted you sitting around lonely all this time,” Thea adds from Laurel’s other side.

“God, sometimes, I just wish I had something from him to know. I mean he’s probably pissed at me for _so many_ things.”

“Like what?” Felicity asks.

“First the whole alcohol and pills thing. He would not have wanted me to mourn him like that, but he would be proud of me for getting the help I needed and pulling myself out of it. Then the whole vigilante thing. He hated that I trusted the Arrow and was willing to work with him and then he died and I was so mad at the Arrow for not saving him,” Laurel takes a deep breath trying to dislodge the lump growing in her throat.

“You know, Tommy knew about Oliver being the Arrow,” Felicity squeezes her hand.

“Really?” Thea looks to Felicity.

“Yeah, he found out when someone tried to kill Malcolm with a poisoned bullet. Tommy didn’t trust the Arrow to save him so Oliver had to take the hood off to explain why Tommy should trust him,” Felicity explains. “He was really mad at Oliver for awhile, but I think they got some closure before Tommy died.”

Laurel can feel the tears leaking down her face, “That’s good. I’m glad. They needed it after everything I put them through.”

“Laurel,” Thea wraps an arm around her shoulders. “Tommy and Oliver both loved you – very differently, but they loved you each in their own ways. You didn’t put them through anything they didn’t want to be put through.”

Laurel offers a watery laugh, “Wow. I’m so sorry guys. I’ve just turned into a mess.”

“Hey,” Felicity smiles. “We all have off days. I’m just glad you’re finally having yours. It’s been hard watching you keep it all together for the last few years.”

Laurel laughs and is about to thank them both when a beeping noise from Felicity’s computer cuts them off.

“What is it?” Thea asks as Felicity turns to her computer.

“Someone broke into my office. How is that even possible? They got through all the other security devices I have and the silent alarm in my office they trigger? And it’s not even a good one – well, not for me anyway so maybe that’s why they set it off.” Felicity begins talking to herself quietly and Laurel and Thea exchange a glance before both jumping to their feet.

“What are we looking at?” Thea asks while Laurel heads over to gear up.

“Two men. I think – I think it’s the FBI agents? But they’re dressed in jeans and not suits anymore.”

“What?” Laurel calls across the room.

“Your date is breaking into Felicity’s office with his partner. I guess you were right about them not being real FBI agents,” Thea calls back to Laurel.

Laurel hops up the stairs fully geared up, “That doesn’t make any sense. Why are they breaking in if they’re not real agents? That’s going to get them arrested.”

“Well,” Felicity grimaces. “My alarms don’t go to the police. They come here. I trust us to take care of these things over the police any day. No offense to your dad, Laurel.”

“None taken. He would probably agree with you that patrols wouldn’t get there in time anyway. Let’s get going, Thea.”

 

&&&

 

“Have you found anything yet?” Dean asks his partner as Laurel and Thea listen from the comm system Felicity has them patched into.

“Not yet. Felicity Smoak graduated MIT and is a certified computer genius. I’m not even sure Charlie would be much help.”

“Do not diss, Charlie. She will find out and kick your ass for that,” Dean replies.

“I called her this afternoon to see if she could get down here to help, but she’s too busy with her own case and couldn’t – so I get to _diss_ her all I want on this one.”

“She’ll still kick your ass,” Dean mumbles.

“Okay, I think I found something.”

“What?” Dean’s footsteps are heard crossing the room.

“I’m not entirely sure. It looks like – Nope, no idea, but whatever it is is really screwed up.”

“What do you have on your computer, Felicity?” Thea giggles. “Porn?”

_“No, I just hope he didn’t find the email I sent Cisco about Laurel’s Canary Cry.”_

“Shit,” Laurel swears under her breath. “I forgot I don’t have that. You’re going to have to do all the talking, Thea. Dean might recognize my voice.”

Laurel and Thea hop off their bike and enter the back door using Felicity’s code and enter the private CEO elevator to get to the top floor without any of the other security guards seeing them.

Once they get off the elevator, they move quickly (because – again – why is Felicity’s office completely glass?). Thea bursts into the office and draws an arrow from her quiver and points it at Dean’s partner sitting behind Felicity’s desk.

Dean immediately straightens up and reaches for a gun and Laurel pulls her sticks out of their holsters and holds them by her side. She clears her throat gaining Dean’s attention and shakes her head subtly for him to stop causing him to freeze in the same position.

“Good,” Thea’s voice is distorted. “Now, what are you doing in Felicity Smoak’s office?”

“What the fuck is this?” Dean asks straightening further from where he was leaning over his partner’s shoulder.

“Oh, um, yeah, so Star City has a team of vigilantes that protect the city,” Dean’s partner says.

“And that’s not something you thought was important to tell me?” Dean replies.

“Well, I didn’t think it was actually real and if it was, I didn’t think we would be running into them, but it makes sense now.”

“What?” Dean asks.

“It seems Felicity Smoak knows who the vigilantes are, possibly works with them, but definitely supplies them with their tech toys. Like this one’s voice modulator,” Dean’s partner waves his hand at Thea. 

“Glad we’re all caught up,” Thea responds. “I’m going to ask one more time: what are you doing in Felicity Smoak’s office?” 

“Listen,” Dean starts putting his hands up. “We’re all on the same side here. We’re here to help with Felicity’s little problem she had last week.”

“And what problem would that be?” Thea asks.

 _“You’ve got company,”_ Felicity adds. _“Using my private elevator. How did they break my code?”_

“Black Canary,” Thea nods towards the door while she takes a step closer to Dean and his partner and pushes them back into a corner.

Laurel heads towards the elevator and stops next to it and waits for the person to get off. A red headed woman strolls off carrying a bag and playing with a tablet similar to Felicity’s.

“Don’t move,” Laurel says quietly and watches the woman freeze before spinning around and pulling a gun that she puts in Laurel’s face. Laurel grins and quickly disarms the woman in a few hits and pulls her towards the office.

Thea glances up at their entrance and turns back to the two men, “Friend of your’s?”

“Charlie?” Dean’s partner says. “I thought you couldn’t make it.”

“Didn’t want to miss another job with my favorite brothers,” Charlie responds. “And I have to say this one is quickly becoming my favorite. Nice leather, blondie.” Charlie wags her eyebrows at Laurel who smirks in return.

“You, too,” Charlie grins at Thea. “But you’re holding my boys at arrow point? Is that what it’s called?”

Thea glances at Laurel, who has one arm wrapped around Charlie’s chest holding her back to Laurel’s front, and raises an eyebrow asking if that’s what you call it and Laurel raises one of her sticks in response mostly saying _don’t have one, don’t know._

“Right,” Thea mutters. “You’d have to ask someone else,” Thea responds to Charlie.

“Why isn’t blondie talking?” Charlie turns her head back to Laurel. “She was before.”

“No voice modulator,” Thea responds.

“That’s what the Canary Cry is?” Dean’s partner asks. “That explains the email.”

_“Crap. I’ll let Cisco know to change some emails. We should probably have anonymous emails unconnected to anything work related anyway. I’ll bring it up in our next weekly chat.”_

“Do you guys have vigilante support team meetings?” Thea asks Felicity.

_“No – that would be silly.”_

Laurel catches Thea’s eye and grins before nodding that yes they do, she’s seen it. And Thea’s grin widens.

“So there’s another one of you?” Dean asks. “I’m guessing you can hear them or something.”

“Probably inner ear comms,” Charlie adds. “I can see blondie’s when her hair moves.”

“Her name is Black Canary,” Dean’s partner supplies.

“Blondie works,” Dean shrugs. “If she didn’t want us to know her hair color she would wear a hood like this one.”

“Only some of us get head covering,” Thea supplies and Felicity laughs in her ear.

Laurel clears her throat and gives Thea a disapproving look.

“She’s right. There’s normally two men with them. One in all green – similar to this one’s,” Dean’s partner points to Thea. “He goes by the Green Arrow.”

“Clever,” Dean supplies.

“Hey, watch it,” Thea pulls the bow back a little more.

“Sorry,” Dean quickly puts his hands up.

“Than another guy, wears all black and has a helmet covering. He goes by the Spartan. And they have to have a tech guy –“

Charlie clears her throat.

“Or girl.”

“ _I like her,_ ” Felicity adds.

“Two seconds ago you hated her cause she was a better hack than you,” Thea interjects.

“Speedy –“ Laurel quickly cuts herself off forgetting her missing Canary Cry. She avoids looking at Dean knowing that will give her away, but she can see out of the corner of her eye he does a double take as soon as he hears her voice.

“Right,” Thea turns back to the question at hand. “Who are all of you and why are you in Felicity Smoak’s office?”

The three exchange a look before Charlie shrugs and Dean’s partner sighs.

“My name is Sam Winchester. This is my brother Dean and our friend Charlie. We hunt things.”

“So one – not FBI agents,” Thea glances at Laurel, who remains impassive. “And two, what kind of things?”

 _“Wait! Ask them if they know the Ghostfacers guys? They mentioned something about hunting,”_ Felicity interjects.

“Do you guys know anyone who goes by the name Ghostfacers?” Thea asks.

Charlie begins to laugh and Dean groans.

“Yeah, they, um, called us, I guess? We were already on our way here. CEO of a major corporation gets attacked in her office by an unknown and invisible assailant and survives. Kind of a mystery we would like to solve,” Sam supplies.

“So these Ghostfacers trained you?” Thea asks.

“No,” Dean’s voice raises in anger. “Are they telling people that? If anything we taught them. They knew nothing until we were all trapped in that house together. If we weren’t there, they would not have made it out.”

“Dean,” Sam cuts off his rant. “You need to get over it.”

Charlie grins, “That’s never going to happen. It’s like asking him to hang out with a bunch of witches.”

“Wait, witches are real?” Thea asks.

“Yeah, and so are ghosts. Which is what you have,” Sam answers.

 _“So ghosts are real? That’s not creepy or anything. And I’m all alone in a basement._ ”

Thea and Laurel exchange grins. They’ve both been teaching Felicity some self-defense moves because no matter how many vigilantes you know, you need to be able to protect yourself – especially if you are hanging out with said vigilantes all the time.

“So now that you know who we are, do we get to know who you are?” Dean asks. “And who’s on the other end of your comm?”

Thea glances to Laurel, “What do you think, Overwatch?”

When they get no response, Thea and Laurel exchange panic glances.

“Overwatch?” Thea asks again and static comes across the comm. “Shit.”

“What happened?” Sam asks just as the keyboard he’s sitting at starts to fire up.

“Okay,” Dean quickly jumps into action and Thea raises the bow again. “Listen, I don’t care if you don’t trust us, but we are all going to die if you don’t do exactly as I say.”

Thea glances to Laurel just as Laurel’s cell phone rings. Laurel glances down and sees Tommy’s picture and name come across her phone.

Without looking up, Laurel says to Thea, “Do it.”

Thea drops her bow and returns her arrow to her quiver as Laurel places her sticks back in her holsters and steps away from Charlie as the other three jump into action. Laurel strides over to Thea and shows her the still ringing phone.

“Shit,” Thea breathes quietly as her phone starts to ring. She glances down and see’s Felicity’s name and photo. “Overwatch?” Thea answers.

Laurel can hear the static through the phone as Felicity tells Thea that she lost the comms and the video feed. Thea gives her updates on what’s going on as Laurel keeps staring at her phone.

“You should answer that,” Dean says quietly next to Laurel causing her to jump.

Laurel raises an eyebrow asking why.

“It’s not a normal phone call,” Dean replies catching everyone’s attention in the room. “It should have gone to voicemail already, but it’s still ringing. And isn’t he dead, Laurel?”

Laurel’s head snaps up, “How?”

“Your voice was familiar, but I remember you talking about a Tommy. And that’s who’s calling. And you told me he’s dead. Answer the phone, Laurel.”

Laurel accepts the call, “Tommy?”

On the other end, she can hear static, but Tommy’s voice comes through the breaks. _“Laur – Is that you?”_

“Yeah, Tommy. It’s me. Are you okay? Where are you?”

_“I can’t – long – Just wanted – you okay?”_

“Yeah, Tommy. I’m okay. I’m with Thea,” Laurel quickly puts the phone on speaker as Thea steps closer.

_“Thea – sister?”_

“Yeah, Tommy. I’m your sister. I’m so sorry I didn’t know when you were alive. I really wish we could have had that chance.”

_“Me too, speedy. How’s – Oliver?”_

“He’s good, Tommy,” Thea says quickly.

“He and Felicity are engaged now,” Laurel adds.

_“Good. Good. And – dad?”_

“Being the normal badass he always is. Now has an entire league of badasses following his command,” Thea adds. “I’ll tell him you said hi.”

_“Thanks, speedy. Laurel – sorry – about Oliver. I see – joined him?”_

“Yeah, Tommy,” Laurel takes a deep breath. “I had to.”

_“Because – Sara? She was here – now gone?”_

“Yeah,” Laurel nods. “She’s okay now too. She’s doing some stuff that you’ll never believe.” Laurel pauses, “A lot of things have changed since –“

_“I know, Laurel. I’m so happy – you. I’ll always love you. But – want you – happy. Please, be happy.”_

Laurel lets a little laugh out, “I am happy, Tommy. I am so happy. And I’ll always love you, too. And thank you. Thank you for saving me.”

_“Wouldn’t have it any other way. I’ll be seeing you, Laur.”_

“Bye, Tommy,” Laurel says quickly as her phone disconnects. Laurel raises her watery eyes to meet Thea’s, who still holding her phone to her ear with Felicity on the other end. Laurel reaches out and pulls Thea into a tight hug as the younger girl starts to cry.

Charlie calls Dean away and the two talk with Sam over by Felicity’s desk as Laurel and Thea continue to hold onto each other.

“I never got to tell him that I missed him. Or that I wish I had known – for so many reasons, but mostly because he was my brother and I never knew him like that,” Thea says quietly.

“I know, Thea, I know,” Laurel squeezes the younger girl a little harder. “But he knows you love him and he loved you – always had and always will. That’s what’s important.”

 _“I’m so sorry,”_ Felicity says quietly.

“Thanks, Felicity,” Laurel says quietly as Thea sniffles.

“I’m sorry,” Dean says as he approaches them. “But it seems your ghost – Tommy – is gone now. No need to dig up his bones and burn them or anything,” Dean laughs humorlessly.

“What?” Thea spins on him. “You will not be digging my brother’s grave up or anything.”

“Thea,” Laurel grabs her arm and pulls her back. “He said they didn’t have to do that.”

“Right,” Thea nods.

 _“Can you ask why Tommy was in my office though?_ ”

“Felicity wants to know why Tommy attacked her. Tommy barely knew Felicity before he died,” Laurel asks.

“Was anyone with Felicity when she was attacked?”

 _“Just Oliver. It was right after he kissed me hello._ ”

“Oh,” Laurel grins. “Before Tommy died, he gave Oliver and I permission to be together again. He probably didn’t realize that Oliver and I would have never worked out after all our history.”

“There’s also a good chance, he hasn’t realized any time has passed so he probably thought Oliver may have been playing with one or both of you,” Sam grimaces. “Sorry.”

“Don’t worry. That’s the old Oliver that Tommy probably remembers the most,” Laurel shrugs. “We’ve all moved on from that.”

“Is he – is Tommy still around or is he – ?” Thea asks.

“I’m sorry,” Sam places a hand on Thea’s shoulder. “He’s gone now, but just know he’s always watching out for you.”

Thea gives a watery smile, “I really wanted to tell him I’m a badass now. He always knew the messed up little girl. I always wanted him to see how much better I was. My mom and dad too.” Thea sighs. “I mean Oliver’s dad – not my biological dad. He trained me. He knows I’m a badass now.”

Laurel smiles and wraps an arm around Thea and pulls her into her side, “Moira and Robert know too. Don’t worry.”

 _“So I have to ask. Can they keep a secret?”_ Felicity asks.

“Good question,” Laurel nods. “How good are you guys at keeping secrets?”

Charlie laughs and Sam and Dean exchange a look.

“Our whole lives have been keeping secrets,” Sam says. “Besides, if we took this information to the media, the police would probably arrest us for a few things.”

 _“Good. Why don’t you bring them to the Arrowcave. I really want to meet this girl that hacked my code._ ”

“Just so we’re all clear,” Laurel says. “You’re the one who wanted this. And you’re telling Oliver that.”

Thea laughs, “Yeah, I’m not getting involved in that.”

_“I’ll handle Oliver. Don’t worry.”_

Laurel can hear the smile in Felicity’s voice.

 

&&&

 

“This is so cool,” Charlie looks around the Arrowcave as Laurel and Thea lead her and the Winchesters from the elevator over to Felicity.

“Felicity,” Sam sticks his hand out to shake hers.

“Thanks for helping with everything,” Felicity shakes his hand.

“Anytime,” Dean adds.

“So who are the people who cracked all my codes?” Felicity places her hands on her hips.

Charlie and Sam both raise their hands.

“Don’t look at me,” Dean says. Then quietly adds to Laurel, “I barely know how to turn a computer on.”

Laurel laughs softly, “You and me both. I’m just glad I know Felicity. She’s a real lifesaver.”

“Aw, Laurel,” Felicity shakes her head. “Stop, you’re embarrassing me. I know I’m awesome.”

“Doesn’t have a modest bone in her body when it comes to tech though,” Laurel grins at her.

Felicity shrugs and starts questioning Charlie and Sam on what they did so she can improve her codes. They lose Sam pretty quickly who turns to Thea and starts asking her questions about what they do. Laurel smiles at them all before heading over to remove her mask and some of her other items.

“So,” Dean follows her over. “I’m really sorry about our date.”

Laurel gives him a small smile, “Don’t worry about it. I knew you weren’t FBI so I was just using it to get intel on you, too.”

“Oh,” Dean looks around. “I wasn’t getting any intel. I was apologizing for cutting it short. Sam was able to get through some of Felicity’s firewalls so I had to leave to see what was on it. We ended up needing to connect directly to her server to get the rest though.”

“Oh,” Laurel feels a blush spread over her cheeks. “So you really asked me out?”

“Yes,” Dean nods. “I can tell now that whoever I met in Felicity’s office yesterday is not the same woman I met tonight.”

“No,” Laurel purses her lips. “I was kind of playing up the ditzy role to get more information.”

“Makes sense,” Dean shrugs. “It probably wouldn’t have worked anyway. I’m on the road a lot and when we’re not - home is Kansas.”

Laurel glances down and smiles softly, “I wish it could have, but as you can see my life is kind of screwed up. I thought I was still mourning Tommy’s loss, but I realize now that it has nothing to do with that. Even if I hadn’t heard from Tommy tonight, I realized that I had already moved on. What’s holding me back is this life.” Laurel waves her hand around Team Arrow’s headquarters.

Dean nods, “I understand. It’s hard to meet people who understand what I do. That’s what happened with Lisa and Ben.”

“Oh,” Laurel smiles. “So they weren’t made up as part of your character?”

“No, they were real,” Dean returns her smile and turns to watch Sam and Charlie interacting with Thea and Felicity. “They made me want something for myself that I never got.”

Laurel leans against the table, “I understand. Tommy was that for me. But I hurt him and he still came to save me. I’ve always felt that was my one shot at happiness.”

Dean glances at her and smiles, “You’ll find it soon.”

“You, too,” Laurel smiles back.

“What’s going on?” Oliver’s voice breaks all conversation and everyone turns to face him.

“Hey, you’re back!” Felicity smiles brightly as Oliver slowly approaches the platform and glances at Dean and Laurel standing nearby before turning to the rest of them.

“Yes, I’m back. Why are there people down there that I don’t know?”

“Okay, so don’t panic,” Felicity starts.

“Whenever you say that, I start to panic.”

“So remember Friday when I was attacked? Well, the FBI came to investigate except they weren’t really the FBI, they were the hunters that the Ghostfacers had trained. Except they weren’t really trained by the Ghostfacers. They trained the Ghostfacers, I think. Anyway, I called Laurel to come help out because when I think FBI, I think lawyer, and the only lawyer I trust is Laurel and she happens to be the ADA," here Dean raises his eyebrows at Laurel. "Then Laurel went on a date with one and he had to cut it short so she came back here and they were breaking into my office so Laurel and Thea suited up and went to check it out –“

“Felicity,” Oliver cut her off.

Laurel grins thinking about how much Oliver must love Felicity and missed her because he would have normally cut her off a few minutes ago. Laurel hears a chuckles and turns to find Diggle standing there grinning at the two of them. He meets Laurel’s gaze and raises his eyebrows shaking his head at them.

“Oliver,” Thea offers a blinding smile to her brother. “It was Tommy.”

“What?” Oliver turns to her before turning to Laurel.

“Tommy was the ghost,” Laurel explains. “He just wanted Thea and I to know that he was okay and that he loved us and wanted us happy.”

Oliver smiles softly and nods at Laurel before turning to Thea, “I’m really happy you got to talk to him, speedy.”

“So speedy is a nickname turned vigilante name?” Dean asks quietly.

Laurel grins and nods.

“Where did Black Canary come from?”

“My sister,” Laurel grins thinking of Sara. “She was the original Canary and she got the name from this canary she had growing up. When I took over for her, I tried to be her, but realized I couldn’t be her. I needed to be myself. So I became the Black Canary.”

“You guys are close?”

“Not as close as you and Sam,” Laurel smirks. “We’ve had our ups and downs, but she’s my little sister. I love her and I’ll always be here for her. I’d protect her, but she could probably kick my ass herself.”

“So why did Tommy attack Felicity?” Oliver asks in general.

“We think –“ Felicity starts and tries to come up with a gentle way to break it to Oliver.

“Apparently Tommy didn’t realize time had passed since his death,” Laurel picks up where Felicity faltered. “He thought you and I might have been together and you were cheating or something. Felicity says she was attacked after you kissed her.”

Oliver nods and rubs a hand down his face before crossing the room to kiss Felicity on the forehead, “I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay,” Felicity pats his chest. “You’ve changed and Tommy knows that now. I think he had a message for you too?” Felicity turns to Thea.

“Yeah,” Thea walks over to her brother and hugs him. “He’s proud of you and misses you and loves you.”

Oliver returns her hug, “I’m glad you got to talk to him, Thea. You too, Laurel.” Oliver gives her a smile and a nod.

“So I just have to ask,” Diggle says after a long pause. “How many people know who we are now?”

“Thank you, Diggle,” Oliver turns to Felicity. “We’ve discussed this. We don’t bring people in without vetting them unless it’s a life or death situation.”

“I did vet them,” Felicity smirks. “Dean and Sam Winchester. Wanted for a laundry list of crimes so very unlikely to go to the media or the police with this information. And Charlene ‘Charlie’ Bradbury. Also a hacker, like myself. Also unlikely to go to the media or the police.”

“Hackers have a code of honor,” Charlie adds with a grin. “And Felicity offered me some really cool tech whenever I need it so I will definitely not be telling anybody about what she does after hours.”

“And let’s not forget all the people you’ve told, Oliver,” Thea smirks.

“I have told the least amount of people,” Oliver argues.

“You told me,” Thea smiles.

“And me,” Diggle adds.

“And me,” Felicity grins.

“And you told Barry. And now everyone in Central City knows,” Oliver counters.

“That’s because of Harrison Wells. Barry and I tried to keep your identity a secret.”

“And you told Lyla,” Oliver points at Diggle.

“Because you needed information from her. And she’s my wife now, so I would have told her eventually.”

Laurel waves her hand, “Haven’t told anyone.”

Oliver thinks about it, “Your dad?”

“Found out from you,” Laurel counters. “You also told Tommy and your mom.”

“I didn’t tell her, she figured it out,” Oliver argues back.

“You also told Roy,” Thea grins.

“Alright, fine. I’ve told the most people, but I’m pretty sure we’re even now after bringing three more people in,” Oliver glances at all three of the girls.

“Nope,” Felicity grins brightly. “They figured it out.”

Oliver narrows his gaze at Felicity.

“Laurel didn’t have her voice thing,” Dean supplies. “I recognized her voice and then Tommy was calling on her phone and she had told me about an ex named Tommy. It wasn’t hard to put two and two together.”

“I was looking at Felicity’s computer where I saw some emails to a Cisco Roman and figured out Felicity was on the other end of their comms,” Sam concludes.

“I thought giving you a code name would keep you safe,” Oliver raises an eyebrow at Felicity.

“It does. You can’t call me by name out in the field anymore,” Felicity responds.

“Okay,” Oliver nods. “Are you ready to go home? I just flew through three time zones. I’d really like to get some sleep.”

“Three time zones? I thought you were in Central City?” Thea asks.

“I was. We had to detour to Nada Parbat. Malcom needed some assistance.”

“Is he okay?” Thea asks quickly and then tries to pretend like she doesn’t care. Laurel feels for the girl caught between not wanting one of the last of her family members dead and still hating him for everything he has done – including killing her brother and forcing Thea to kill Sara.

“He’s fine. He says hello and would like you to call him soon.”

“I probably should,” Thea nods. “Tommy wanted me to say hi to him too.”

Oliver nods and places a hand on Thea’s shoulder.

“Come on, Diggle, we’ll give you a ride home,” Oliver wraps an arm around Felicity and leads the two of them out.

“Lunch tomorrow at Palmer Tech, don’t forget,” Felicity calls over her shoulder to Charlie.

“Wouldn’t miss it,” Charlie grins.

Once Oliver, Felicity, and Diggle leave, Laurel glances over to Thea to find her lost in thought.

“Let me get changed and Thea and I will show you out,” Laurel says to the rest.

“We’ve got it,” Dean nods and straightens up.

“It was nice to meet you, guys,” Sam offers Thea and Laurel a hug.

“Can I try on the leather?” Charlie asks and Sam shakes his head.

“Let’s get some sleep before we leave tomorrow, Charlie,” Sam nods towards the elevators. “We’ll meet you upstairs, Dean.”

Dean nods and Laurel glances over at Thea to see she has disappeared to change.

“So,” Dean begins at the same time Laurel does.

“Ladies first,” Dean gestures for her to continue.

“Thank you, for everything. I had a good time on our date and I got to find some closure in more ways then one. And I don’t think I would have gotten it, if it wasn’t for you.”

“Anytime,” Dean grins and looks down at his boots. “I had a good time too. And thanks – just thanks.”

Laurel gives him a confused look before letting a small smile cross her face, “Anytime, I guess.”

“See you around, Laurel Lance,” Dean starts walking towards the elevator.

“See you around, Dean Winchester,” Laurel says softly as the doors close.

 

&&&

 

Laurel glances at her watch again and then up at the clock in her office. She hasn’t been able to concentrate on anything today and its nerve wracking. She knows the Winchesters arrived separately from Charlie and that Charlie is sticking around to talk shop with Felicity, but she has no idea when the Winchesters are leaving.

After another few minutes of staring at her work, she sends a quick text to Felicity and gets a response in a few minutes. Laurel jumps from her seat and grabs her bag and her phone – not bothering to pick up any work.

She drives into the Glades and finds the only motel in the area and it takes no time to find their room number. It’s obvious from the black 1967 Chevy Impala sitting outside and more obvious from Dean loading bags into the trunk.

“Hey,” Laurel calls out and makes her way over the uneven ground in her heels.

“Hey,” Dean walks over to join her near the front of the car. “What are you doing here?”

“I wanted to come and say good bye,” Laurel says softly.

“I thought that’s what we did last night,” Dean replies with a smirk.

Laurel laughs and reaches into her bag to pull out a card, “And to give you this.”

Dean takes the card from her hand and flips it over to read the information on the front before flipping it over to reveal the back that has her personal home and cell phone number on it.

“I live with Thea, so if you ever call my apartment and she answers, that’s why,” Laurel explains.

Dean nods still staring at the card, “I gave you my real number. I have to change it frequently, but I’ll always make sure to send you a text with the new one – just in case you ever need any help with anything.”

Laurel smiles as Dean looks up to meet her eyes again, “Good. But why don’t you call next time you’re near by. We should probably go on a real first date, then.”

Dean grins at her, “Are you sure?”

“Yeah, I realized that it was so easy to talk with you about so much. And my life is a little chaotic with my night job, but you know – so the worst of it is out of the way.”

Dean nods, “And Tommy?”

“He told me to be happy. Maybe you can help me with that?” Laurel grins.

Dean smiles back at her, “I’d like to try.”

Laurel leans forward and places a kiss on his cheek, “I hope to hear from you soon.”

“You will,” Dean grins.

“Hey, you ready – oh, hey, Laurel,” Sam walks to the back of the car and drops another bag in.

“Hey, Sam. Just came by to say good bye. And good luck,” Laurel waves to him as Sam gets into the passenger side of the car.

“Talk to you soon, Laurel,” Dean steps back as Laurel begins to walk to her car.

“Bye.”

Laurel gets into her car and drives back to the office before the boys leave the parking lot, not wanting to see Dean drive away from her. If this is the life she is going to have, then she needs to be accepting of him being gone for long periods of time, but she doesn’t want to see it.

Laurel is sitting at her desk eating her lunch and finally getting caught up on her work when she gets a text message from Dean Shaw. She quickly changes his contact name to Winchester and opens the picture. It’s a photo of the _Leaving Star City_ sign with the standard _We hope to see you soon!_ below it. Dean has written a caption that simply says “you will”. Laurel smiles as she texts back a smiley emoji and then tells him to keep his eyes on the road.

Laurel can’t keep the grin off her face the rest of the day or night when she meets up with Team Arrow again. Thea and Felicity give her knowing looks whenever she glances at her phone and Diggle looks confused while Oliver doesn’t pay her any attention. It’s a good day for Laurel Lance.

**Author's Note:**

> i think they're both a little too OOC. i like to think laurel is b/c the writer's have turned her into a competing love interest for oliver and she could be so much more (like a girl with a crush and doesn't know what to do about it - which is what i tried to write here). dean is b/c i sort of wrote him as seeing this girl and being "wow, she's great i want to get to know her and impress her and not come off as an ass"
> 
> let me know what you think in comments, kudos, or [tumblr](http://thediaryofanerdygirlygirl.tumblr.com/) and i can always be /prompted/ to continue in this universe (yes i went there).


End file.
